Free Web NovelSparks flew from Koizumi’s eyes, the white in his hair noticeably thicker than the last time I’d seen him.
“Hiroyuki. What are you doing right now? Why are you meeting my guest?”
As Koizumi entered, Hiroyuki hid the fanatical look he had shown just moments ago.
Then, wearing a relaxed expression, he smiled at Koizumi.
“He’s a guest who came all the way to Japan, so I was just keeping him company and passing the time.”
“That’s unnecessary meddling. What I’m asking is why you took my guest without my permission!”
“Haha. Prime Minister, I don’t understand why you’re reacting so sharply. Is there some reason I shouldn’t meet President Kim Muhyuk privately? Is there something you know that I don’t?”
As Hiroyuki asked in apparent confusion, Koizumi glared at him.
“What? What exactly are you implying with that?”
“I don’t understand why you’re acting so unlike yourself, Prime Minister. I clearly informed your secretary and brought him along. In that short amount of time, what could I possibly discuss with President Kim Muhyuk besides exchanging a few pleasantries?”
The relationship between the two looked worse than I’d expected.
Koizumi didn’t even try to hide his emotions in front of me, openly displaying his irritation toward Hiroyuki.
It was unlike him, given that he usually kept his feelings well concealed.
‘Even if Koizumi holds power, it seems he can’t completely ignore the opposing forces.’
Well, in a democratic country, it’s difficult for one person to wield absolute authority.
That kind of thing was only possible in authoritarian states like Russia or North Korea.
“......Mind your manners, Hiroyuki.”
“Yes, yes. Of course.”
Seeing Hiroyuki reply so smoothly made me let out a hollow chuckle.
The Hiroyuki who had been staring at me like a lunatic with gleaming eyes just moments ago was gone.
With a smile spreading across his face, Hiroyuki spoke to me.
“Please remember what I said. President Kim Muhyuk. This could be our chance to become friends.”
“What exactly are you trying to pull?!”
When Hiroyuki addressed me, Koizumi suddenly raised his voice.
He looked almost afraid that I might form some kind of connection with that man.
“Why is our Prime Minister acting like this today? You don’t need to speak so loudly. I can hear you just fine.”
Even as he met Koizumi’s furious gaze, Hiroyuki merely shrugged his shoulders indifferently.
If I left it alone, their argument would only drag on, so I responded quickly.
“I’ll think it over. I’ll take my leave now.”
I stood up from my seat and walked toward Koizumi.
“It’s been a while, Prime Minister. Let’s move somewhere else for now.”
Still glaring at Hiroyuki, Koizumi nodded and turned around.
“Let’s go to my office.”
Before following Koizumi out of Hiroyuki’s office, I briefly turned my head to look back at him.
The smile had vanished from his face, and his eyes slithered over me like those of a snake.
‘He really is insane. Cultists are exactly the kind of people you shouldn’t get involved with.’
Clicking my tongue inwardly, I followed Koizumi in silence.
He led me to his own office, located at the very innermost part of the building.
“Hoo.”
As soon as Koizumi entered, he let out a deep sigh.
Watching him, I asked cautiously.
“It seems you don’t get along with Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki.”
“Don’t even get me started. He interferes with everything I do......”
Perhaps he’d endured a lot, because Koizumi vented his frustration and shook his head.
Then, as if he’d regained control of his emotions, he smiled awkwardly and extended his hand toward me.
“Let’s greet each other properly. It’s been a long time, President Kim Muhyuk. It really has been a while since we last met face to face—especially here in Japan.”
I took his hand, gave it a light shake, and released it.
“Indeed. It took quite a long time for me to come back to Japan.”
“Please forget the unpleasant memories for now and have a seat.”
I sat down with Koizumi. The moment he sat, he brought up Hiroyuki again.
“Did you discuss anything in particular with Hiroyuki?”
“Nothing significant. We talked a bit about me. Among Japanese politicians, whether they like me or not, there’s hardly anyone who doesn’t know who I am. He suggested maintaining good relations.”
Until I knew exactly what kind of relationship Hiroyuki had with Heaven’s Church, I had no intention of sharing that information with Koizumi.
Koizumi nodded without much suspicion.
“That’s true. But if Hiroyuki’s faction opposes the re-exploration of the Seventh Continental Shelf, would it be difficult to proceed?”
“Did they say they opposed it?”
“Well. He gave off that kind of nuance. Both regarding the Seventh Continental Shelf and North Korea’s claims against Japan.”
Koizumi let out another deep sigh, clearly troubled.
“The re-exploration of the Seventh Continental Shelf should proceed without major issues. Restoring relations with Korea is the top priority of our cabinet.”
“Still, things are better than before, aren’t they? You’re no longer asserting territorial claims over Dokdo, and you’ve mentioned apologies for the past several times.”
“......That’s precisely why Hiroyuki’s faction has grown stronger.”
Most Japanese politicians did not acknowledge the colonial damage inflicted on Joseon.
They claimed comfort women never existed, and that Joseon developed thanks to annexation by Japan.
They called Dokdo Takeshima and asserted sovereignty over it, clashing with Korea over every conceivable issue.
But Koizumi was different.
Whether because of his promise to me, or because he’d always thought that way, I didn’t know—but he had officially apologized for the colonial era multiple times.
That did hurt his approval ratings, but instead, his relations with the United States and the Korean government were not bad.
“We must acknowledge the past and move toward the future. But Japan isn’t ready to look ahead yet. Most people see the changes on the Korean Peninsula as nothing more than a passing breeze. Beneath that lies nostalgia for Japan a hundred years ago and contempt for Korea.”
Japan looking down on Korea was nothing new.
“Well, that’s an internal matter. Not something I should interfere with. You should, however, keep your promises.”
“......Don’t worry about that. Instead, I have a few requests of my own.”
“Requests?”
At the word “requests,” I raised one eyebrow. I had a rough idea of where this was going.
“Yes. I hear that you’re starting a project to construct oil and gas pipelines originating in Russia and passing through the Korean Peninsula.”
Just as I’d expected, it sounded like he wanted Japan included in that project.
“Please connect the gas pipeline, which currently ends in Korea, to Japan as well via an undersea route. Our government will cover all associated costs.”
“That sounds like something you should discuss with the Russian government. What authority do I have?”
“Why say that? Aren’t you the architect of this project, President Kim Muhyuk? We already contacted the Russian government, but they flatly refused to change the established plan. We even offered to invest a huge sum to connect the pipeline with Russia, but they rejected that as well and approved the project that passes through the Korean Peninsula.”
The Japanese government had lowered itself, offering to invest one trillion yen to Russia.
Despite exhausting every effort to push for a pipeline connection, Russia chose Korea over Japan.
Even in my previous life, there had never been a case where both Japan and Korea were connected to the pipeline.
This time, however, I had changed that flow, and we were able to start the project while relations between Russia and the United States were still relatively good.
Once the project began, it wouldn’t be something that could simply be scrapped later if relations soured.
“If you wanted to connect it, you could, couldn’t you? Am I wrong?”
“Well, it would be difficult, but it’s possible. That said, the benefits I’d gain from making that choice don’t seem particularly large.”
I had already obtained permission to reprocess natural gas coming into Korea from Russia and resell it.
At present, both Korea and Japan were bound by unfavorable natural gas trade contracts.
They had signed long-term contracts of over twenty years, and under an unfair clause called the TOP clause, they were required to purchase the agreed annual volume no matter what.
Even if they couldn’t take delivery of the volume, they still had to pay the agreed amount.
‘For a country that has to import all of its natural gas, it was an unavoidable contract.’
Among those issues, the biggest problem was the destination restriction clause.
After designating the delivery point, it prohibited the transfer or resale of the purchased natural gas.
On top of that, there was the absurd oil price linkage clause, applied only to Korea, Japan, and China.
It was a ridiculous clause that caused natural gas prices to rise in line with oil prices.
“But......”
“We’re also considering a contract that would allow the resale of reprocessed natural gas imported into Korea. You know very well how large the profits from that would be, Prime Minister.”
If pipeline natural gas imported from Russia were cooled, converted into LNG, and exported to Japan, it would generate enormous profits.
Giving up that profit to connect a pipeline to Japan would require some other compelling benefit.
“Don’t even think about linking this project to the exploration and development of the Seventh Continental Shelf. They’re separate matters. If you want to connect the gas pipeline, then propose a deal enticing enough to sway me. As you know, I’m not that inflexible of a person.”
The exploration of the Seventh Continental Shelf had already been agreed upon as part of the condition for allowing Japan to participate in the six-party talks.
I emphasized once again that they shouldn’t think about using it to extract something else.
“For today, let’s focus on discussing the Seventh Continental Shelf and North Korea’s claims against Japan. We can think about the gas pipeline issue later.”
After thinking it over, Koizumi nodded.
He was someone who knew very well that provoking me wouldn’t do him any good, which made things easier—there was no need for unnecessary remarks.
At last, the real negotiations began.
Since the re-exploration had already been decided and we’d reached a verbal agreement to assign the exploration to Yugansk Oil, we were able to conclude things without major disagreements.
We agreed to draft the contract as soon as preparations were complete and discussed additional companies to include.
“In addition to Yugansk, I’d like to have Chevron participate in the exploration as well.”
“Chevron?”
“Yes. Including Chevron would increase the likelihood of this project’s success. It would also help block interference from China.”
Koizumi nodded in agreement.
“China is indeed the biggest problem.” ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
“It would be difficult for China to stir up trouble in a project involving oil companies from both the United States and Russia.”
It was already hard for China to interfere in matters involving two major powers, and cooperating with Russia on the pipeline [N O V E L I G H T] projects made it even more so.
Abandoning a stable route for importing energy in favor of developing the uncertain Seventh Continental Shelf would be foolish.
Perhaps it would be different once China’s economic and national power grew stronger over time, but for now, China was merely a dormant dragon.
“If it’s Chevron...... Our cabinet is on fairly good terms with them. Was it Michael? One of Chevron’s directors has been putting in quite a bit of effort with our national oil corporation.”
“That’s right. That Michael came to see me as well and asked to have Chevron participate in this project. After running the numbers, it seems that involving both companies would be better for both Korea and Japan in the long term.”
Koizumi thought for a moment, then asked,
“If another major oil company participates, won’t we have to split the profits further?”
“If oil and natural gas are discovered and production begins, most of the profits will go to the Korean and Japanese governments. The share going to Yugansk and Chevron will be extremely small. The additional benefits they gain in exchange for sharing profits will outweigh any dissatisfaction.”
Yugansk and Chevron possessed world-class technology in exploration and drilling.
Superior technology meant lower extraction costs.
If Korea and Japan attempted drilling with their comparatively inferior technology, the costs would inevitably be much higher.
“You agree to including Chevron, then?”
“Let’s do that.”
Koizumi agreed without raising any objections.
“Then I’ll contact Chevron myself. Let’s finalize things by gathering representatives from the Korean government, the Japanese government, Yugansk, and Chevron here in Japan next month to sign the contract.”
Koizumi was more cooperative than I’d expected.
Perhaps the fear of Japan becoming isolated lay beneath it all.
The board I’d set up wasn’t particularly favorable for Japan, so I smiled and quickly wrapped up the discussion on the Seventh Continental Shelf.
